Change As You Repeat
by key2myheart13
Summary: After Roxas' mom gets remarried, he is forced to move away from Twilight Town. He has no way of preparing for what life has in store for him. No need to worry. Axel and his friends are going to make things a whole lot more interesting. - Akuroku mainly.


Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts unfortunately. But I promise you the world would be a better place if I did!

A/N: Mainly focused on Akuroku but mentions Soriku and Zemyx.  
>This is my first story. The next chapters will be better than this first one.<p>

**Chapter 1: A Rough Start  
>_<strong>

At this very moment, I'm currently trapped in a torture chamber, traveling hundreds of miles an hour, thousands of feet in the air.

This Destiny Island better be the most amazing place in the entire world for it to be worth spending eight hours in a plane!

And I think whoever invented planes deserves to be shot! I'm sure whoever it was is already dead by now, but I don't really care. Dig them up and shoot them anyway.

Not only is this island nowhere in sight, but I'm starting to think it doesn't really exist. If we haven't gotten there by now, I doubt we are ever will. My sixteenth birthday is in two days! If I don't make it there will be hell to pay. I _will_ come back and haunt someone over this!

Ok, so I'm not being very optimistic. Don't blame me—It's not like I planned on being a nervous flyer. And by nervous I mean completely terrified. I don't understand how I went to feeling somewhat normal to a total paranoid mess as soon as we started to take off.

I sigh in distress a little too loudly, earning my fifth or sixth strange look from the guy sitting next to me. The dude looks tough and seems to have a bad attitude; maybe he could punch me hard enough to knock me out and the flight attendants will wake me up when we get there.

Part of me likes that plan. However, I am quite fond of the idea of my face not being battered and bruised.

Thanks to the amazing amount of luck I have, my iPod died over an hour ago, and was followed by my DS twenty minutes later. The boredom that accompanied the loss of both struck with a vengeance. Now I'm stuck with nothing but my own thoughts for the rest of the flight. This left me to proceed with staring hopelessly out the window as much as I wanted.

I turn away from the window, lean back in my seat and close my eyes. My thoughts keep wandering to my friends. They were staying back in Twilight Town. I missed them already. Today they start their sophomore year together while I, on the other hand, am in the process of moving almost half way around the world.

It still boggles my mind that somehow my mom running into an old friend a year and a half ago ended up with her getting remarried. Guess fate got bored and decided to spice up our lives.

Anyway, they came back from their honeymoon a few months ago. It was then my mom informed me that we would be moving to Destiny Island because it would be "better for the family". It's not like I had a say in the matter anyhow. Wherever my mom goes, I go. She's had to raise me by herself after my father walked out on us over a decade ago. If this is what makes her happy, then I'll do it. I don't have to like it.

One thing I've come to realize during this dreadful boredom is that I seem to cooperate with my mom way too easily. Why am I not more rebellious? I'm making this parenting thing way too simple for her. I bring shame to the stereotype of teenagers.

There isn't anything I can think of to make this situation any worse. At this point my angst levels have reached an all-time high. On top of that I'm painfully bored. Surely being this stressed out is not healthy. At any rate, I definitely need to calm down. As long as I'm breathing and my heart is still beating, I'll be alright. Flying is supposedly the safest way to travel. It can't be that much longer either, right?

My eyes open instantly in panic as I feel the entire plane tremble.

OH MY GOD! THIS CAN'T POSSIBLY BE HAPPENING!

Not knowing what else to do I start to look around the rest of the plane. There were a bunch of people wearing expressions that probably matched mine. Actually, judging by the feeling I had in my stomach, surely I looked worse in comparison. A voice started to come over the intercom.

"Good afternoon passengers. We are experiencing some unexpected turbulence. There is no need to worry, we will be landing shortly. Please fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the rest of the flight."

Enjoy the rest of the flight! YOU'VE GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!

A few moments pass and the shaking suddenly stops just as quickly as it started. Out of the corner of my eye I notice the hands of guy next to me were shaking a little. Guess he isn't as tough as I thought.

Wait a second. Who am I to judge this guy? Ten seconds ago I nearly pissed my pants. He could be freaking out just as much as me but just has a really good poker face.

Note to self: Work on poker face.

Great! Now I'm analyzing the behavior of strangers. See, this is what staying on planes too long will do to you. My theory is that the change in pressure on the brain due to being at such a high altitude must cause people to lose their minds.

And I'm all the proof I need since I must be losing it to think that I actually have a theory for anything. All my knowledge about theories and stuff like that comes straight from watching a ridiculous amount of the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. Personally, I think just about everyone with a TV finds themselves sucked into watching a few hours of one of those channels at some point in time. Animal Planet, too, especially during Shark Week…

Other note to self: once off plane, get a hobby.

I momentarily stop my pointless mind rambling and force myself to loosen up my tense body. Once I declaw myself from the armrests, I try to get ahold of myself. My hands instinctively start to rub my temples because I can feel a headache setting in. Just as I was starting to breath normally, the plane decides to shake some more. Calming down is nearly impossible when you feel like being on your current flight is going to be the last thing you ever do. I was officially pushed past caring about controlling myself.

"FUCK MY EXTREMELY SHORT LIFE!" Honestly, I didn't know or care what I was saying. Although I can tell anybody that, whatever it was, I totally meant it.

You could tell my brief shriek of panic and frustration didn't attract positive attention from the passengers around me. Some little kids started to cry, I could feel that I was receiving glares, and I heard several people start to whisper some less than polite things about me. I've always hated when people stared at me. Don't they know that's rude? Certainly there are better things to do like play I Spy with each other than stare at me.

Whatever… They're just a bunch of tourists, anyway. I lean against the armrest in front of the window to my left with my eyes closed. My left hand reflexively forms a fist as I use it to prop up my head. That headache definitely kicked in now.

Hopefully, the trauma caused by this accursed flying contraption will wear off quickly. Because in my current state, I don't think I'll be making a spectacular first impression about my arrival on the island. Not that I see anything particularly appealing about moving out here, but I have to keep from looking miserable for my mom's sake. I'm pretty sure my new step-dad and step-brother are in charge of reporting back to my mom on everything I do until she gets here. And I have a feeling that showing up looking like I'm about to have a nervous breakdown won't go unnoticed, or unmentioned, for that matter.

Even with making the decision on moving, packing, having to find a new job out here, and saying goodbye to her friends, I know my mom worries about me. Better for me to keep up appearances than add any unnecessary stress.

There I go again. I sigh quietly against my fist. Yep, I'm definitely making this too easy for her. I'm going to start pulling every stunt I can possibly think of from now on. Let's see her have to deal with that for a change.

For the first time since getting on the plane I actually smile. The day I turn into a bad boy is the same day pigs are going to fly. Sure I'm not the perfect kid, but I've never done anything significantly wrong in my life. Well nothing I thought was significant anyway. I could only imagine her reaction to hearing that I vandalized somebody's property, got caught stealing, or something like that. It would be priceless.

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. It was not the best time to be giggling. Not now especially, since I'm almost positive it would come out sounding more like hysterical cackling. The plane chose to cut my few pleasant minutes of the flight short. I swear… it's shaking on purpose just to play with my emotions. I turn and look out the window for the first time in what feels like hours. I'm practically stunned by what I was seeing.

The sun was sitting just above the clear blue ocean. The sky was painted beautiful shades of red and orange and there wasn't a single cloud in sight. It was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in my life. It looked like those pictures you only see on postcards. I couldn't help but stare.

Out of the corner of my eye I start to see green. I focus my gaze on the approaching island—it was bigger than I expected it to be. From what I was told millions and millions of dollars went into expanding the island. Apparently, hundreds of tons of sand and rock were collected from smaller islands miles away in order to make room for a small airport, a hotel, and stores. But you would have never guessed that just by looking at it. It didn't appear like some big investment. From up here it all seemed so peaceful… almost welcoming even.

No wonder so many people came here every year. I faintly hear an announcement about seatbelts and electronics or something like that. It didn't occur to me until I saw the runway that we were actually landing.

I was thrilled to say the least. My main goal for the moment was to resist the urge to yell "FREEDOM!" at the top of my lungs. The only thing that dampened my mood a little was the feeling of the plane rocking a bit as it finally touched the runway. My stomach could've done without that. Besides that, I was completely overjoyed.

Sooner than I even expected people were grabbing their luggage and filing out of the plane. I took my time standing up and stretching before picking up my backpack from under my seat. Considering the fact that the guy sitting next to me was still tougher than me and didn't like me too much, I was in no rush to risk trying to push past him and running off the plane. As soon as everyone else in my row was gone, I went to go get my suitcase from that compartment thing that's above everybody's seat. Of course, mine managed to be pushed all the way to the back so it would be impossible for me to reach it. This didn't stop me from trying to get it on my own. After a few unsuccessful jumps a flight attendant came over and took it down. I thanked the lady and walked as fast as I could out of there.

My legs were ecstatic about being able to move freely. They didn't care what direction they were headed. Neither did I, apparently. I was just following the majority of the crowd. They couldn't all be headed to the Starbucks or McDonalds; some of them had to be smart enough to unknowingly lead me to the exit. I take my phone out of my pocket and turn it on. Right away I was informed by my phone that I had five texts and two missed calls, all of which were from Sora.

This dude does not like waiting, apparently. That or he's way too eager to see me. From what I gathered from the short time I have known him, he was probably doing cartwheels outside out of sheer excitement. I sent him a short text saying I was almost outside. I could see through the glass doors ahead of me that it had gotten significantly darker outside. When I was about five feet away from the door I received another text. Stepping out of the way of others, I pulled out my phone and saw it was Sora again.

_I SEE YOU! XD_

There was a tapping sound on the glass wall directly in front of me. When I look up Sora makes one of the dorkiest smiles I've ever seen and waves. He looks like a kid in a candy store as usual. Not once have I seen him in a bad mood. He's just happy and energetic _all the tim_e! It's like he eats happy pills and injects caffeine into his bloodstream for breakfast. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Sora, I just don't see how being in a permanent good mood is humanly possible.

He didn't even give me a chance to take three steps out the door before starting to basically molest me. I should've seen this hug coming. It appears to me that he can get carried away when he gets excited. Based on how hard he was squeezing me my guess is that he was trying to crack a few ribs; he was surprisingly strong for someone so skinny. The pain I was feeling totally sidetracked me from actually listening to a single word he was saying. In fact, I'm pretty sure he was talking too fast for me to understand in the first place. First things first, I needed to escape from his death grip.

"Sora, hugs aren't meant for breaking people in half," Thankfully he took the hint and he let me go.

"Oh, I'm sorry Roxas! I'm just so excited you're finally here!" I could tell. His face did the impossible as his smile grew even wider. I wonder if anybody can actually pull a muscle from smiling too much.

"I'm just happy to be off that plane," I mumble to myself while suddenly taking a lot of interest in admiring the scenery behind Sora. Luckily Sora was suddenly distracted by his phone and wasn't paying attention to what I said. I'm not the best at making conversation with people I barely know. However, five seconds later he turned his focus back to me.

"Ok, so my dad is going to be here soon. I didn't get a chance to cook, so he ordered pizza," He looks at me with an expression that looks as if he was wants my approval or something.

"That's fine. I love pizza," It was the best response I could think of. That and it was the only one. Speaking of pizza must've woken up my stomach because then started to growl rather loudly. "I think I'll be good with anything edible right about now."

There was a bench I spotted not far from where we were standing. Screw exercising my legs—I was frikin tired! I roll my suitcase behind me and prop it against the bench before plopping down into it. Sora sits down next to me and starts speaking while I'm in mid-yawn.

"Good, you didn't really have any other options. Demyx came over yesterday and practically cleaned out the fridge. I guess I forgot to go to the store after Riku came over and—" Oh jeez not this guy again. I turn to face Sora who was sitting to my right.

"Am I going to hear you talk about your boyfriend every five seconds like last time?"

Sora had stayed at my house for about a week around the time the wedding actually took place. I've heard enough stories about Riku to last me a lifetime. In fact, make that a few lifetimes.

"What are you talking about?" He was genuinely confused by my question. There's all the proof I need. He totally gets carried away! And he doesn't even know it!

"The only thing you haven't told me yet is probably his social security number," Sure I was exaggerating a little, but last time I checked that's not a crime.

"Well… I missed him and…Did I seriously talk about him that much?" Sora blushes a bit when asking me his _**ridiculous**_ question. He had no need to feel embarrassed; I was just trying to get my point across.

"I could probably write a whole biography about him," Another yawn momentarily interrupted my mini-rant. In that time I actually came to sudden realization. "I know more about him than I do about you."

Sora contemplated what I said for moment. I can tell he's really thinking because he was wearing the same expression he did when I asked him what his favorite Disney movie was. A question he has yet to answer, by the way. Looks like I'll have to remind him about that later.

"I'm sorry. It's just that-" What was he apologizing for? Now I feel bad. I must have sounded like jerk. I tend to do that when I'm tired… or so I've been told.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for. My brain just needs time to recuperate. Right now it's in danger of exploding if I hear any more about Riku. " I made it a point to smile as best I could. Which believe me is much more difficult to do when you're half asleep.

"Ok. I'll shut up about him… for now. You're probably going to meet him tomorrow anyway!" Sora instantly returned to his normal happy self. "What do you want to do tomorrow? We could hang out together if you want. I've got an Xbox. You could meet my friends. We could go the beach or…"

Funny how I think it's odd that he's so cheerful all the time, but as soon as I was the one to cause that to change I felt an instant guilt trip. Sora has an interesting way of effecting people, I'll give him that. And the kid could talk like there was no tomorrow sometimes…

"… Then we could watch movies if you want or-" Before he could go on any more I had to stop him. He must not have realized I was struggling to keep my eyes open and barely hearing a word he was saying. I was trying so hard not to nod off.

"The only thing I plan to do tomorrow is be in a coma, and maybe later on in the day, start to unpack my stuff. Don't let me stop you from making any plans though. Go enjoy the rest of your summer."

Sora seemed to take a second to get a good look at me.

"Dude, are you ok? You look awful. Didn't you get any sleep on the plane?"

"No. No I didn't." I start to giggle. Sleep on that death trap? Maybe the day I become a billionaire.

"You look like you haven't slept in days!" Something about his tone made it clear I wasn't looking so hot. Thanks for all the reassurance Sora. Wait a second…

Of course! No wonder I was so beat. I was too anxious to sleep at all last night. Add that with spending nine hours on edge in a plane, your result is total exhaustion. There was no point in fighting it anymore. It wasn't like I was going to win.

Everything around me felt like a hazy dream. Somebody was shaking me. I heard someone saying my name over and over, but I couldn't open my eyes, I couldn't answer. There were other sounds I recognized. A car door slamming shut, voices, wheels rolling on cement. It seemed so distant. I became semi aware of my body being moved.

Circumstances quickly changed the moment I felt my shin hit nothing but cold, hard metal.

"Oh my god! I am _**so**_ sorry Roxas!" It was Sora. I manage to get my crack eyes open a little. From the looks of it Sora was having a little trouble helping me get into the car. It took effort but I successfully stumble into the open car door. My eyes shut again at once and I heard the car door close to my right. I let myself slowly slump over to lean against the door.

"Is he alright?" Cloud's tone was full of concern. Sora had climbed into the car as well.

"I think he's just tired." He answers while I feel him lifting my head up to put my seatbelt on around me. "Don't worry. I'll make sure he makes it into his bed ok."

I felt the car start moving, but I was out before I could hear Cloud's response.

A/N: I'd like to thank Villain XIII for lying to me and encouraging me to write the original version of this. And I thank NozzleTops for making me dig up the original, and causing me to realize how horrible it was.

So this is the rewritten beginning of a story I started a very long time ago. I hope to have the next chapter up soon.


End file.
